Criminal Justice: Battered child and battered wife syndromes
Criminal justice concepts surrounding "battered child syndrome" and "battered wife syndrome" highlight significant issues related to family violence and its legal ramifications. Battered child syndrome refers to the physical and psychological trauma experienced by children subjected to abuse, first identified in the early 1960s. Research has shown that these cases often display patterns of repeated injuries and discrepancies in parental explanations, leading to legal implications for child abuse prosecution. On the other hand, battered wife syndrome characterizes the psychological effects on women who endure long-term domestic violence, illustrating a cycle of violence and learned helplessness that can hinder their ability to leave abusive relationships. This syndrome is recognized in court, particularly in cases where women claim self-defense after killing their abusers. Both syndromes not only foster public awareness of the challenges faced by victims of family violence but also influence legal policies and the prosecution of such cases, emphasizing the need for sensitivity and understanding of the complexities involved in these situations.
Criminal Justice: Battered child and battered wife syndromes
SIGNIFICANCE: The terms battered child syndrome and battered wife syndrome have brought to public attention the prevalence of family violence and the need to enact new laws to protect children and women. In addition, the terms are important in the criminal prosecution and defense of child abuse and domestic violence cases.
Although family violence is not a new problem in the United States, the criminal prosecution of family members who physically or sexually abuse relatives is a relatively recent development. Medical and social science research during the 1960s and 1970s documented the unique kinds of injuries, both physical and psychological, that are suffered when family members are the abusers. The researchers who identified and brought to public attention battered child syndrome and battered wife syndrome helped increase public awareness of family violence and helped change criminal justice policy concerning prosecution of such cases. In addition, recognition of the psychological trauma associated with such victimization, led to the development of controversial criminal defenses that attempt to utilize battered child syndrome and battered wife syndrome as justifications for victims killing their abusers.
Battered Child Syndrome
Battered child syndrome is the condition suffered by children who have undergone physical abuse that has left them with both physical and psychological trauma. Dr. Henry C. Kempe and his associates coined the term in a landmark article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1962. Kempe presented the group’s findings in a nationwide survey of hospitals that documented 302 cases of battered child syndrome during one year in which thirty-three battered children had died and eighty-five had suffered permanent brain injury.
In analyzing the data from the study, Kempe found that the studied cases shared certain characteristics. First, battered child syndrome usually occurred to children younger than the age of three. Second, noticeable discrepancies usually appeared between the medical findings and the parents’ explanations of how their children’s injuries occurred. Third, histories of previous injuries in many children revealed various stages of healing that indicated that people were intentionally injuring the children. Kempe’s research received a great deal of public attention and was the impetus for drafting a federal child-abuse reporting statute.
All U.S. states now have child abuse laws mandating that certain caretakers such as physicians, nurses, and teachers report cases of suspected child abuse. While Kempe focused on using physiological data to identify battered child syndrome, later researchers have tended to focus on examining psychological data to identify emotional effects suffered by children with the syndrome. These data include hyper-vigilance, helplessness, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Courts have recognized the importance of battered child syndrome in prosecuting cases of child abuse. Prosecutors use battered child syndrome particularly in cases in which a child’s death results from abuse and in which very young children sustain serious injuries. In the latter cases, the children are not able to testify about their abuse, so prosecutors must rely upon expert witnesses. The experts testify about previous injuries suffered by the children, even though there may be no direct proof that their battered children’s parents have caused their injuries. In its 1991 Estelle v. McGuire ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court evaluated the use of evidence of battered child syndrome and held that in battered child cases it was constitutional for courts to admit as evidence prior injuries of children, even without proof that the defendants caused the prior injuries.
Although courts frequently use battered child syndrome to prove the intent to commit child abuse, they rarely permit its use in situations in which children kill their parents and then try to use battered child syndrome as their defense. Such cases typically involve adolescent children or adults who make claims about the long-term psychological effects of past parental abuse on them. While experts may be able to testify about the psychological effects of battered child syndrome, most courts reject it as a defense because it departs too much from traditional self-defense theory.
Battered Wife Syndrome
Battered wife, or battered woman, syndrome is a set of psychological and behavioral symptoms exhibited by victims of severe, long-term domestic violence. The term is associated with the pioneer research of Dr. Lenore Walker who introduced the term in her 1979 book, The Battered Woman. While Walker’s definition of the syndrome encompasses any woman who has been the victim of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse by her partner, not all battered women develop battered woman syndrome. The syndrome applies only to a woman who has been the victim at least twice of physical, sexual, or serious psychological abuse by a man with whom she has an intimate relationship. Walker’s research advances a psychological theory of the process of victimization of battered women. Her theory explains why even after prolonged spousal abuse, battered women lack the psychological ability to leave their abusive relationships.
Walker defined battered woman syndrome as comprising two distinct components: a cycle of violence and learned helplessness. The term cycle of violence refers to a three-part repetitive pattern of interaction between batterers and their victim that consists of gradual periods of tension building—expressed in verbal and psychological abuse—followed by acute battering incidents, and concluding with calm, loving respites, during which the batterers apologize for their behavior. Walker identified this third phase as the one that most victimizes women psychologically because the cycles of violence almost inevitably recur. Battered women become increasingly demoralized as they realize that their abusive partners have again fooled them into believing that they will change.
The second component of Walker’s theory, learned helplessness, explains the psychological paralysis that prevents some women from leaving their abusers. Walker argued that learned helplessness occurs in domestic violence situations when the battered women cannot ensure their own safety because—regardless of their own behavior—they face their partners’ unpredictable abusive behavior. Believing that there is no way for them to prevent the violence, battered women simply give up and accept the abuse. In some cases, battered women resort to violence themselves and kill their partners to free themselves from further abuse.
Criminal courts in all fifty U.S. states permit the introduction of expert testimony on battered woman syndrome. Often this occurs in the context of murder trials in which women homicide defendants claim to have been battered women and argue that they have acted in self-defense. In many cases, objective evidence is lacking that meets traditional standards for self-defense, namely fear of imminent death or serious injury at the time of the homicide. Therefore, the mental states or beliefs of the battered women are considered in evaluating self-defense claims. Expert witnesses testify about battered woman syndrome and the psychological states of the defendants at the time of their homicides to assist juries in determining whether the defendants have acted out of reasonable beliefs that they were in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.
Bibliography
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